I found an image that has a strong color cast, and, IMHO, could benefit from a light edit to fix it's color. What I would like to know is whether I can post a color edit of an image, and make it look neutral. Here is the image in question: https://e621.net/post/show/1704163/2018-3-alternate_species-balls-blonde_hair-bowser- . Here is my proposed edit: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1b0radA1Q3rqXUJdo2nd6rIKlyg5vIfde .

I'd say not, as a quick look into the artist's terms of service reveals they don't allow edits to their work without their permission first. https://i.imgur.com/HiU7ngr.png Even though they don't seem to be DNP on here, I'd respect their wishes on this matter and contact them first.
Their terms of service

When uploading artwork, try to upload as original file as possible. In cases like unsupported filetypes conversions need to be made, but with majority of posts, post it like artist posted it.

Color corrections are handled as edits and edits are handled seperately to regular uploads: uploading_guidelines#quality -> Edits.
In this case, this would count as low effort edit and would be deleted as such, inferior to original.

Reasons are pretty simple:
- Anybody can do these kind of edits from the original with ease, but it's technically impossible to get the artists original version out of already edited version.
- That edit is still subjective, some might prefer it, but many might still want to see artists original intention instead.
- We also do not want reduntant content as spam. Because the edit doesn't actually change any visuals, which means we would be hosting two almost identical posts. This is also the reason why if there's two same kind of edits, we simply keep the best of the edits and reason for max 5 of same base images.

If you think that users might want this edit, simply use external host and link it as comment in original post.

Mairo said:
When uploading artwork, try to upload as original file as possible. In cases like unsupported filetypes conversions need to be made, but with majority of posts, post it like artist posted it.

Color corrections are handled as edits and edits are handled seperately to regular uploads: uploading_guidelines#quality -> Edits.
In this case, this would count as low effort edit and would be deleted as such, inferior to original.

Reasons are pretty simple:
- Anybody can do these kind of edits from the original with ease, but it's technically impossible to get the artists original version out of already edited version.
- That edit is still subjective, some might prefer it, but many might still want to see artists original intention instead.
- We also do not want reduntant content as spam. Because the edit doesn't actually change any visuals, which means we would be hosting two almost identical posts. This is also the reason why if there's two same kind of edits, we simply keep the best of the edits and reason for max 5 of same base images.

If you think that users might want this edit, simply use external host and link it as comment in original post.

I already sort of did that. In the comments, I mentioned the artist to seek his/her approval for my image, while providing a link to the image in question. I don't consider it to be a low effort edit, because it took some work to get the colors right, as I selected the levels manually, and I made sure to edit in a higher bit-depth and dither down to 8-bits to maximize quality.

Henry_VIII said:
I don't consider it to be a low effort edit, because it took some work to get the colors right, as I selected the levels manually, and I made sure to edit in a higher bit-depth and dither down to 8-bits to maximize quality.

We look at the content based on how the results look, not how long amount of time it took to create or how polished it is. If someone spends 1000 hours in ms paint, end results are still deleted for artistic quality reasons no matter the time and effort.

In the end this is still messing around with color levels, just with bit more effort. If this was uploaded I would instantly delete it under edit quality guideline.

Mairo said:
We look at the content based on how the results look, not how long amount of time it took to create or how polished it is. If someone spends 1000 hours in ms paint, end results are still deleted for artistic quality reasons no matter the time and effort.

In the end this is still messing around with color levels, just with bit more effort. If this was uploaded I would instantly delete it under edit quality guideline.

Well, I've contacted the artist. If they were to say yes, would it be acceptable?

Henry_VIII said:
Well, I've contacted the artist. If they were to say yes, would it be acceptable?

It would be deleted, like Mairo just said. Asking the artist changes nothing.

Accepting exceptions to the rule would set a bad precedent, and might result in the site being flooded by low-value content.